Speaker of Parliament Alban Kingsford Bagbin has said that he is the Speaker for Ghanaians and not for any political party.
According to him, though he is a member of the opposition NDC, his job as the Speaker of the Parliament does not allow him to be biased against any Member of Parliament irrespective of political colour.
This comes against the backdrop of NDC National Communication Officer Sammy Gyamfi’s attack on the Speaker and the Minority leadership in Parliament. The NDC communicator had attacked the Speaker and the Minority leadership for approving some ministerial nominees of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, despite directives from the NDC to reject them.
Mr Bagbin, in an interview with the Class Media Ghana on Sunday, noted that the recent blistering attack on him was unwarranted. He said when it comes to parliamentary proceedings, he only presides over business of the House and cannot dictate for the MPs.
“Now, I don’t belong to any party. I’m Speaker of Ghana. I’m not a Speaker of NPP. I’m not a Speaker of NDC. I’m Speaker of Ghana, and I must hold the balance…My duty is to ensure that there’s an even playing field and the decision is taken and I announce it. That is all,” he explained.
“And, so, if you sit down and look at me and think that, maybe, you were my girlfriend before [and, therefore] I should give you an advantage over another who I’ve never met, please, then don’t come to me; you won’t get it.
“Let’s finish, after work, we can do that business together, not when I’m working. That’s my nature, that’s how I’ve been up to this time and, so, it’s unfortunate that these things are happening,” he said.
Accusation
Sammy Gyamfi had accused the Speaker of Parliament, Minority Leader Haruna Iddrissu and the MP for Asawase, Muntaka Mubarak, of brazenly defying the leadership of the NDC and betraying the collective good of the opposition party for their selfish interest.
“Some have sold their conscience but ours is intact. And we can work together to rebuild the party from the ashes of 3 March 2021, which I call ‘Black Wednesday’ – our day of self-inflicted shame,” he said
He added that it was the appropriate time for members of the NDC to insist on the right changes in the leadership of the NDC group in Parliament or forget about them completely.
“It’s about time we understood that we don’t have any NDC Speaker of Parliament … we have a Speaker who rode on the back of the NDC into office to pursue his own parochial agenda and nothing more … you trust them at your own peril,” Mr Gyamfi told NDC supporters.
